The Deception Ch. 10
By Elbereth in April
They all closeted themselves in Nappa's room. Vegeta, Kakkarot, Nappa, Traigo, Vanyar, Valkan, Kwil, Capran, and Dom.
"So," Vegeta began, "the floor is open for ideas."
"Well, we can use Kakkarot as a double agent to plant false information, obviously," said Dom.
"Maybe we can bring some other Saiyans in," Traigo suggested.
"Perhaps we could get some technology that could help us. Rumor is that the new scientist Frieza picked up in a planet raid hasn't been too cooperative in aiding him," Van volunteered.
Nappa proposed, "Maybe we could all get together to train to become strong enough to defeat Frieza, or at least his men."
"Does anybody know who has the Super Saiyan gene and who doesn't?" Valkan asked.
"There's all kinds of little things we can do. Garble communications. Change files and records. Mess up spacepods. Stuff like that," Kwil put in.
"Can we do a little of everything?" Kakkarot asked.
"We need a long term strategy."
They all looked back at Vegeta, who was frowning in concentration. Then he very slowly began to smirk.
"What've you got, big brother?"
"I was just thinking what Frieza would do to the person he caught disrupting things and sowing rebellion."
"Why would you smile about that? He'd kill us."
"No. He would kill the person he *thought* was responsible. Tell me, besides Frieza himself, who is our biggest obstacle to taking down Frieza?"
"The Ginyu Force. Zarbon and Dodoria."
"I can take out Dodoria easily. And if we're winning, Zarbon will come over to our side. But the Ginyu Force--they're a problem." Vegeta looked at Kakkarot. "Unless our double agent could convince Frieza that *they* were responsible for plotting against him and not us."
There was a silence, then delighted grins.
"Vegeta, you're a genius."
"Recruiting more Saiyans--if we could find trustworthy ones, that would be good, too. And we should all get together to train. I have a little device you'll be very interested in. As for your scientist friend, any help we can get is good. We should think up some ways to use new tech and get it set up."
"What about the gene?" Valkan repeated. "Who has it?"
"Nobody knows. Except Frieza. And the doctors," sighed Van.
"And me," Vegeta said softly, calmly. "Every time somebody new comes in, I hack into the records to see."
They looked at him in surprise. Then more gleeful grins. "You *are* a genius. Well, who?"
He shrugged. "Kakkarot and me."
Some eyes went wide, others narrowed in speculation. Kakkarot blushed slightly. "Making any progress?" Kwil asked.
Vegeta and Kakkarot looked at each other. "We're so much stronger than we used to be, but I don't know," Kakkarot sighed in frustration. "I don't think I'm very close. What about you, Vegeta?"
"Closer," he almost whispered. "I keep getting closer."
"So, what do we do first?" Traigo demanded. "How do we put this plan into action? And after the Ginyus are out of the way, what then?"
"One thing at a time. Maybe by then we *will* be able to go Super Saiyan. In the meantime, this is what we do. . ."
Feeling slightly out of it, Kakkarot sat down abruptly on the bed. His ribs and his face hurt and it was getting harder to breathe.
Vegeta stopped and looked at him. Valkan asked in concern, "You got anything broken?"
Kakkarot grinned sheepishly. "Just a little weak."
"I don't know, I think your cheekbone may be broken."
Vegeta leaned down and inspected Kakkarot's face. "Nah. You're OK." He touched his ribs, and Kakkarot inhaled sharply. "That might be cracked, though."
Nappa brought out the bandages and Traigo taped up Kakkarot's ribs while Vegeta planned.
"Well. . . we can start training together right away. And Kakkarot and I will spend more time training ourselves, trying to become Super Saiyan. We can start sounding out some other Saiyans, just enough to see if they're Royalists. If they are, befriend them, but don't tell them anything yet. We have to make sure they can be trusted first. Van can talk to his scientist friend. . ."
"He's not actually a friend," Van admitted. "I just heard rumors. And I don't know that much about technology. I think *you* should talk to him."
"OK. As for the rest. . . hn. This could be fun. . ."
_____________ __________
Vanyar had heard about his scientist through another Saiyan named Vegan. Vegeta went to see him.
"Yeah, this new scientist is a genius--but boy, does she hate Frieza. She. . ."
Vegeta blinked. "She?"
"Yeah. What, you thought she was a guy?"
"Van said he."
"Well, it isn't. Frieza picked her up right before he blew up her planet. And she's furious about its destruction. She's so feisty--you'd almost think she was Saiyan." Vegan's eyes got a somewhat dreamy expression.
"You sound as if you *like* her." Vegeta smirked.
"Of course not! Well. . . she is beautiful. But like I said, what a temper. And what a loud voice!" He winced in remembrance.
"But she *is* a genius."
"Oh yeah."
"And she hates Frieza."
"*Oh* yeah."
Vegeta's smirk grew wider. "Perfect."
____________ ____________
She *was* beautiful, Vegeta had to admit. With that blue hair. . . Vegeta had never seen a more exotic looking woman.
"Hi. My name is Vegeta." They were in her private lab, in a heavily secured area of the base. She was sitting at a desk behind a computer.
She looked up at him. "Just what I wanted to see. Another Saiyan."
"And what's wrong with Saiyans?" Vegeta demanded angrily.
"You work for Frieza!" she shot back.
His anger vanished. "Maybe we have no choice. Like some other people I could name, woman."
"My name is Bulma. Don't call me woman!" She glared, then looked down. "I didn't mean to insult you." Then she glared at him again. "But you can't blame me for thinking it."
"You have to overcome your prejudices."
"Against Frieza?"
He shook his head, eyes burning. "Definitely not. Against Saiyans. We hate him, too." His voice burnt her, too, full of his desire for revenge.
Bulma smiled at him in something like admiration. "All right then. What do you want?"
He smirked at her, then turned serious. "How much do you hate Frieza? Enough to make you trustworthy?"
Bulma's heart sped up. "Yes. I hate him more than anything in this universe."
He believed her. "What have you got that'll cause damage?"
Bulma stood up and looked him in the eyes. "Can I trust you?"
He nodded.
"You're plotting against him?"
"Yes."
Bulma suddenly grinned, let out a whoop, and kissed Vegeta on the cheek. Then she clapped her hands together. "All right then!" She turned back to the computer. "Let me show you what I've got that could. . . further our cause."
Vegeta stared at her in shock. "Woman! Did you just kiss me?"
Bulma blinked up at him, then grinned wickedly. "My name is Bulma. And you can't say that you didn't like it."
His eyes widened and he sputtered a moment. "Woman, *I* am a Saiyan warrior. . ."
She continued to smile. "Even Saiyans need a good kiss now and then."
"Just--get on with it. Show me what you've got."
"Why, Vegeta," she purred, "we just met."
The look on his face was priceless. "Woman. . ."
She burst out laughing. "Relax, I'm just teasing. I'm not interested in you."
He felt perversely offended. "Why not?"
"Why. . ." Now it was her turn to search desperately for a good answer. "Because you--we just met."
There was a silence as they stared into each other's eyes. Then Vegeta smirked. "You know you want me."
And suddenly they were both laughing.
Bulma started pulling up specs and models on the computer screen. Vegeta sat down on the edge of the desk so that he could see. "Now this little baby is a ki detonator. It goes off when somebody raises his ki. And this is CC-21--the most advanced computer virus program ever devised at Capsule Corp.--that's where I used to work. This is a healer bug. It injects poisons into the fluid of the rejuvenation tanks and, well, kills whoever's in there. This is a basic generator scrambler. It'll cut off all the power on the base. Um, let's see, what else. . ."
"Does Frieza know about these?" Vegeta asked in awe.
"He's not getting his filthy hands on them! No. I just designed these in my spare time and hid them in the computer files."
"You hid them from Comer?"
"Frieza's so-called computer expert?" She scoffed. "Ha! I knew more than him when I was five."
"What about communications? Can you disrupt them?"
"Child's play."
Vegeta smirked. "Woman, you. . ." he cut himself off before he gushed compliments all over her. "You could prove to be very. . . useful."
She smirked back. "You know you want me."
________________ ________________
"Vegeta? What are you thinking about?"
The prince snapped back to reality. "Nothing."
Kakkarot shrugged. "Well, pass me the salt then."
It was dinner, and the Saiyan table was full to capacity. Everyone who'd been sent out on a purge was already back in. Vegeta looked over to some of the other tables. The Ginyu Force and Dodoria were eating over in the corner. Zarbon and his girlfriend were feeding each other grapes behind a pillar. The scientists and the doctors ate elsewhere.
"Vegeta?"
"What?" he snapped.
"Kwil's talking to you," Kakkarot answered meekly.
"Oh." Vegeta looked at Kwil.
"I just wanted to know where we're all meeting to train after supper."
"Group Room Two." Vegeta looked at the eager faces of his friends. They were looking forward to the training surprise he had promised them.
About half-an-hour after the meal, they assembled in the training room. Vegeta produced the gravity machine device. "Ready?" They all nodded. He turned it on. Everyone fell over except Kakkarot.
"Um, a little too high maybe?" Kakkarot suggested.
Vegeta shook his head. "This is the setting we started at. They just have to get used to it."
The others were already struggling to get up. "What is this, Vegeta?"
"50 times natural gravity. Impressive, huh?"
"I recommend you warm up," Kakkarot said. "You need to get used to it before I decide to--well, do something like this." Then he laughed like a small child and tackled Vegeta.
Vegeta rolled him off and elbowed him in the stomach. "Think you can beat me, do you?" They started sparring, lightning-fast.
The other Saiyans stared for a minute, then, determined not to be outdone, they got to work.
____________ _____________
Vegeta had just brushed his teeth when he heard a knock on the door. "That you?"
"Yeah."
He let Kakkarot in and sat down in his one chair. Kakkarot sat on the bed.
"How mad at me are you, brother?"
"Hn. Well. . . there are some things you might have done differently."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Telling me immediately, for example."
Kakkarot hung his head. "I was going to, but. . . but you were really mad at me. And there were always people around, or one of us was unconscious. . ."
"You had opportunities."
"I'm sorry," he whispered again.
"Well. . ." Vegeta sighed. "Well. . ." He looked away. "I probably shouldn't have hit you."
Kakkarot's head came up. He smiled radiantly. "That's all right."
"And from now on, you tell me *everything*."
"No worries there!" Kakkarot had most definitely learned his lesson. He stared at Vegeta, sobering. "So you don't. . . you don't hate me, then?"
Vegeta looked at him. There was only one answer he could give to that. "No."
Kakkarot briefly closed his eyes, then smiled with relief. "That's. . . good to know."
Vegeta wanted to give him more reassurance, but couldn't get it out. He felt a brief flash of nearly overwhelming guilt and didn't dare say anything for fear of telling him everything.
Finally he managed to smile, and that seemed to make Kakkarot happy enough. "Brother," he said then, "go to bed."
Kakkarot nodded. "Good night, 'Geta."
"Did you just call me 'Geta?"
Kakkarot grinned and hurried out the door.
By Elbereth in April
They all closeted themselves in Nappa's room. Vegeta, Kakkarot, Nappa, Traigo, Vanyar, Valkan, Kwil, Capran, and Dom.
"So," Vegeta began, "the floor is open for ideas."
"Well, we can use Kakkarot as a double agent to plant false information, obviously," said Dom.
"Maybe we can bring some other Saiyans in," Traigo suggested.
"Perhaps we could get some technology that could help us. Rumor is that the new scientist Frieza picked up in a planet raid hasn't been too cooperative in aiding him," Van volunteered.
Nappa proposed, "Maybe we could all get together to train to become strong enough to defeat Frieza, or at least his men."
"Does anybody know who has the Super Saiyan gene and who doesn't?" Valkan asked.
"There's all kinds of little things we can do. Garble communications. Change files and records. Mess up spacepods. Stuff like that," Kwil put in.
"Can we do a little of everything?" Kakkarot asked.
"We need a long term strategy."
They all looked back at Vegeta, who was frowning in concentration. Then he very slowly began to smirk.
"What've you got, big brother?"
"I was just thinking what Frieza would do to the person he caught disrupting things and sowing rebellion."
"Why would you smile about that? He'd kill us."
"No. He would kill the person he *thought* was responsible. Tell me, besides Frieza himself, who is our biggest obstacle to taking down Frieza?"
"The Ginyu Force. Zarbon and Dodoria."
"I can take out Dodoria easily. And if we're winning, Zarbon will come over to our side. But the Ginyu Force--they're a problem." Vegeta looked at Kakkarot. "Unless our double agent could convince Frieza that *they* were responsible for plotting against him and not us."
There was a silence, then delighted grins.
"Vegeta, you're a genius."
"Recruiting more Saiyans--if we could find trustworthy ones, that would be good, too. And we should all get together to train. I have a little device you'll be very interested in. As for your scientist friend, any help we can get is good. We should think up some ways to use new tech and get it set up."
"What about the gene?" Valkan repeated. "Who has it?"
"Nobody knows. Except Frieza. And the doctors," sighed Van.
"And me," Vegeta said softly, calmly. "Every time somebody new comes in, I hack into the records to see."
They looked at him in surprise. Then more gleeful grins. "You *are* a genius. Well, who?"
He shrugged. "Kakkarot and me."
Some eyes went wide, others narrowed in speculation. Kakkarot blushed slightly. "Making any progress?" Kwil asked.
Vegeta and Kakkarot looked at each other. "We're so much stronger than we used to be, but I don't know," Kakkarot sighed in frustration. "I don't think I'm very close. What about you, Vegeta?"
"Closer," he almost whispered. "I keep getting closer."
"So, what do we do first?" Traigo demanded. "How do we put this plan into action? And after the Ginyus are out of the way, what then?"
"One thing at a time. Maybe by then we *will* be able to go Super Saiyan. In the meantime, this is what we do. . ."
Feeling slightly out of it, Kakkarot sat down abruptly on the bed. His ribs and his face hurt and it was getting harder to breathe.
Vegeta stopped and looked at him. Valkan asked in concern, "You got anything broken?"
Kakkarot grinned sheepishly. "Just a little weak."
"I don't know, I think your cheekbone may be broken."
Vegeta leaned down and inspected Kakkarot's face. "Nah. You're OK." He touched his ribs, and Kakkarot inhaled sharply. "That might be cracked, though."
Nappa brought out the bandages and Traigo taped up Kakkarot's ribs while Vegeta planned.
"Well. . . we can start training together right away. And Kakkarot and I will spend more time training ourselves, trying to become Super Saiyan. We can start sounding out some other Saiyans, just enough to see if they're Royalists. If they are, befriend them, but don't tell them anything yet. We have to make sure they can be trusted first. Van can talk to his scientist friend. . ."
"He's not actually a friend," Van admitted. "I just heard rumors. And I don't know that much about technology. I think *you* should talk to him."
"OK. As for the rest. . . hn. This could be fun. . ."
_____________ __________
Vanyar had heard about his scientist through another Saiyan named Vegan. Vegeta went to see him.
"Yeah, this new scientist is a genius--but boy, does she hate Frieza. She. . ."
Vegeta blinked. "She?"
"Yeah. What, you thought she was a guy?"
"Van said he."
"Well, it isn't. Frieza picked her up right before he blew up her planet. And she's furious about its destruction. She's so feisty--you'd almost think she was Saiyan." Vegan's eyes got a somewhat dreamy expression.
"You sound as if you *like* her." Vegeta smirked.
"Of course not! Well. . . she is beautiful. But like I said, what a temper. And what a loud voice!" He winced in remembrance.
"But she *is* a genius."
"Oh yeah."
"And she hates Frieza."
"*Oh* yeah."
Vegeta's smirk grew wider. "Perfect."
____________ ____________
She *was* beautiful, Vegeta had to admit. With that blue hair. . . Vegeta had never seen a more exotic looking woman.
"Hi. My name is Vegeta." They were in her private lab, in a heavily secured area of the base. She was sitting at a desk behind a computer.
She looked up at him. "Just what I wanted to see. Another Saiyan."
"And what's wrong with Saiyans?" Vegeta demanded angrily.
"You work for Frieza!" she shot back.
His anger vanished. "Maybe we have no choice. Like some other people I could name, woman."
"My name is Bulma. Don't call me woman!" She glared, then looked down. "I didn't mean to insult you." Then she glared at him again. "But you can't blame me for thinking it."
"You have to overcome your prejudices."
"Against Frieza?"
He shook his head, eyes burning. "Definitely not. Against Saiyans. We hate him, too." His voice burnt her, too, full of his desire for revenge.
Bulma smiled at him in something like admiration. "All right then. What do you want?"
He smirked at her, then turned serious. "How much do you hate Frieza? Enough to make you trustworthy?"
Bulma's heart sped up. "Yes. I hate him more than anything in this universe."
He believed her. "What have you got that'll cause damage?"
Bulma stood up and looked him in the eyes. "Can I trust you?"
He nodded.
"You're plotting against him?"
"Yes."
Bulma suddenly grinned, let out a whoop, and kissed Vegeta on the cheek. Then she clapped her hands together. "All right then!" She turned back to the computer. "Let me show you what I've got that could. . . further our cause."
Vegeta stared at her in shock. "Woman! Did you just kiss me?"
Bulma blinked up at him, then grinned wickedly. "My name is Bulma. And you can't say that you didn't like it."
His eyes widened and he sputtered a moment. "Woman, *I* am a Saiyan warrior. . ."
She continued to smile. "Even Saiyans need a good kiss now and then."
"Just--get on with it. Show me what you've got."
"Why, Vegeta," she purred, "we just met."
The look on his face was priceless. "Woman. . ."
She burst out laughing. "Relax, I'm just teasing. I'm not interested in you."
He felt perversely offended. "Why not?"
"Why. . ." Now it was her turn to search desperately for a good answer. "Because you--we just met."
There was a silence as they stared into each other's eyes. Then Vegeta smirked. "You know you want me."
And suddenly they were both laughing.
Bulma started pulling up specs and models on the computer screen. Vegeta sat down on the edge of the desk so that he could see. "Now this little baby is a ki detonator. It goes off when somebody raises his ki. And this is CC-21--the most advanced computer virus program ever devised at Capsule Corp.--that's where I used to work. This is a healer bug. It injects poisons into the fluid of the rejuvenation tanks and, well, kills whoever's in there. This is a basic generator scrambler. It'll cut off all the power on the base. Um, let's see, what else. . ."
"Does Frieza know about these?" Vegeta asked in awe.
"He's not getting his filthy hands on them! No. I just designed these in my spare time and hid them in the computer files."
"You hid them from Comer?"
"Frieza's so-called computer expert?" She scoffed. "Ha! I knew more than him when I was five."
"What about communications? Can you disrupt them?"
"Child's play."
Vegeta smirked. "Woman, you. . ." he cut himself off before he gushed compliments all over her. "You could prove to be very. . . useful."
She smirked back. "You know you want me."
________________ ________________
"Vegeta? What are you thinking about?"
The prince snapped back to reality. "Nothing."
Kakkarot shrugged. "Well, pass me the salt then."
It was dinner, and the Saiyan table was full to capacity. Everyone who'd been sent out on a purge was already back in. Vegeta looked over to some of the other tables. The Ginyu Force and Dodoria were eating over in the corner. Zarbon and his girlfriend were feeding each other grapes behind a pillar. The scientists and the doctors ate elsewhere.
"Vegeta?"
"What?" he snapped.
"Kwil's talking to you," Kakkarot answered meekly.
"Oh." Vegeta looked at Kwil.
"I just wanted to know where we're all meeting to train after supper."
"Group Room Two." Vegeta looked at the eager faces of his friends. They were looking forward to the training surprise he had promised them.
About half-an-hour after the meal, they assembled in the training room. Vegeta produced the gravity machine device. "Ready?" They all nodded. He turned it on. Everyone fell over except Kakkarot.
"Um, a little too high maybe?" Kakkarot suggested.
Vegeta shook his head. "This is the setting we started at. They just have to get used to it."
The others were already struggling to get up. "What is this, Vegeta?"
"50 times natural gravity. Impressive, huh?"
"I recommend you warm up," Kakkarot said. "You need to get used to it before I decide to--well, do something like this." Then he laughed like a small child and tackled Vegeta.
Vegeta rolled him off and elbowed him in the stomach. "Think you can beat me, do you?" They started sparring, lightning-fast.
The other Saiyans stared for a minute, then, determined not to be outdone, they got to work.
____________ _____________
Vegeta had just brushed his teeth when he heard a knock on the door. "That you?"
"Yeah."
He let Kakkarot in and sat down in his one chair. Kakkarot sat on the bed.
"How mad at me are you, brother?"
"Hn. Well. . . there are some things you might have done differently."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Telling me immediately, for example."
Kakkarot hung his head. "I was going to, but. . . but you were really mad at me. And there were always people around, or one of us was unconscious. . ."
"You had opportunities."
"I'm sorry," he whispered again.
"Well. . ." Vegeta sighed. "Well. . ." He looked away. "I probably shouldn't have hit you."
Kakkarot's head came up. He smiled radiantly. "That's all right."
"And from now on, you tell me *everything*."
"No worries there!" Kakkarot had most definitely learned his lesson. He stared at Vegeta, sobering. "So you don't. . . you don't hate me, then?"
Vegeta looked at him. There was only one answer he could give to that. "No."
Kakkarot briefly closed his eyes, then smiled with relief. "That's. . . good to know."
Vegeta wanted to give him more reassurance, but couldn't get it out. He felt a brief flash of nearly overwhelming guilt and didn't dare say anything for fear of telling him everything.
Finally he managed to smile, and that seemed to make Kakkarot happy enough. "Brother," he said then, "go to bed."
Kakkarot nodded. "Good night, 'Geta."
"Did you just call me 'Geta?"
Kakkarot grinned and hurried out the door.